Paper feeding mechanism



May 13, 1958 J. HALAHAN ETAL 2,334,595

PAPER FEEDING MECHANISM Originai Filed Jan. 29, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l- INVENTOR. 7 JOHN HALAHAN fi 1 FLOYD A. LYON BY THEODORE ARONSON {mm 0. M9 ATTO EY y 3, 1958 J. HALAHAN ET AL 2,834,596

PAPER FEEDING MECHANISM Original Filed Jan. 29, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 T incuum some:

INVENTOR j JOHN HALAHAN FLOYD A. LYON BY maoooac ARONSON ATTOR ]F trite PAPER FEEDING MECHANISM John Halahan, Brookville, Theodore F. Aronson, Valley Stream, and Floyd A. Lyon, Brookville, N. Y., assignors to Halm Instrument Co., Inc., Elmhurst, N. Y., a corporation of New York Original application January 29, 1951, Serial No. 208,398,

new Patent No. 2,704,209, dated March 15, 1955. Divided and this application December 13, 1954, Serial No. 475,652

Claims. (Cl. 271-29) as United States Patent No. 2,704,209 on March 15,

1955, for Paper Feeding Mechanism.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide a paper feeding mechanism which comprises a stationary vacuum type take-oil, the take-off functioning progressively to separate a portion of the bottom or outer most sheet from a stack of papers, the sheet so partially separated being thereafter removed in its entirety from the stack.

Another principal object of the present invention resides in providing, in a paper feeding mechanism, a vacuum type take-01f of the foregoing character which by virtue of the inherent nature thereof eliminates any need for providing suction members having complicated movements and, as a matter of fact, eliminates suction members having any movement whatsoever.

A further object resides in providing a novel paper feeding mechanism in which the bottom or outermost sheet of a stack is removed from the stack and readily fed to feed rollers and the like or by gravity to a chute.

It is a further object to provide a paper feeding mechanism in which the papers are removed one by one from the bottom of a stack.

More particularly, it is an object of this invention to provide a paper feeding mechanism comprising a hollow member upon which a stack of papers may rest with the papers extending substantially horizontally, said hollow member comprising a perforated surface which is inclined with respect to the base of the stack, vacuum being supplied to the interior of the hollow member whereby it functions partially to separate the bottom sheet from States atent the stack. Additionally, a further object resides in providing a mechanism of this character comprising means for temporarily engaging the sheet so separated and for causing it to engage between take-oft rollers which serve completely to remove the bottom sheet from the stack. It is still a further object to provide a paper feed mechanism of the foregoing character in which the hollow member is substantially cylindrical and one of the cooperable take-01f rollers is mounted coaxially of said cylindrical member and means is provided for passing the partially separated sheet into engagement between the take-0E rollers.

With the foregoing and still further objects in view, our invention includes the novel elements and the combinations and arrangements thereof described below and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a plan view of a preferred form of our inven- 2,834,596 Patented May 13, 1958 like of extreme thinness such as very fine tissue paper,

removing the' sheets one by one from a stack thereof. Moreover, although we have in the following described our invention in connection with a vertically arranged stack of papers, it will be understood that the stack may, if desired, be disposed to extend'in other directions such as laterally of the stationary vacuum type take-off member. However, our invention is characterized by its ability to remove papers from the bottom of a vertical stack and hence we have described it in connection with a vertical stack of papers.

Referring first to Fig. 1, it will be seen that our machine comprises a frame having front and rear members 1 and 2 respectively and side members 3 and 4. In the embodiment illustrated the stationary vacuum type takeoff is shown as cylindrical in form and comprises the hollow cylinder 4, each end of which is closed by an end plate 5 which fits closely about shaft 6 extending coaxially of the cylinder 4 and longitudinally of the machine. The cylinder 4 is in part perforated, being provided with a plurality of slotted openings '7 which extend from the top of the cylinder peripherally thereof for approximately These slots communicate between the exterior of the cylinder and the interior thereof to which is supplied a vacuum by means of the pipe connection 8. In operation, a stack of papers such as that shown at 9 in Fig. 2 is placed upon the machine to rest upon the top of the frame member 1 and upon the top of the cylinder 4 whereby the lowermost paper will overlie one end of the slots 7. As illustrated in Fig. 2 an abutment for the stack 9 of papers may be formed by means of a pair of uprights or bars 10 which are mounted in any suitable manner on the frame of the machine and may serve as a guide for a weight 11 thereby preserving the papers in orderly stacked relation.

As herein indicated, the shaft 6 is mounted coaxially with respect to cylinder 4 and extends longitudinally therethrough being rotatably supported in bearings in opposite end members 3 and 4 of the frame of the ma chine. A pair of rollers 12 and 13 are secured to shaft 6 to rotate'therewith and are positioned at opposite ends of the cylinder 4. Each of these rollers comprise one of a pair of take-off rollers which are formed, at least on the surface thereof, with a material such as rubber affording sutficient frictional engagement with a sheet of paper that it can be withdrawn'thereby from the stack.

\ Preferably, the rollers 12 and 13 are of a diameter slightly less than the outside diameter of the cylinder 4 so that the base of the stack will not be engaged thereby. The second roller of both pairs of take-off rollers are indicated at 14 and 15, respectively. These rollers are rotatably supported on arms 16 and 17, respectively, of bell cranks 18 and 19. The bell cranks are loosely supported upon a shaft 20 which extends longitudinally of the machine and is journalled in the end members 3 and 4 of the frame of the machine. The arms 21 and 22 of the bell cranks 18 and 19, respectively, are biased by means of springs, 23 and 24, connected between these arms and the frame of the machine, to urge the rollers 14 and 15 into engagement with their cooperating rollers 12 and 13.

In order to pass a sheet of paper, when lying in overlapping relation to the cylindrical member 4, into engagement between the take-01f rollers 12, 14 and 13, 15, we preferably provide a pair of rollers 25 and 26 which are adapted to be moved into and out of engagement with the rollers 12 and 13, respectively. The roller 25 is rotatably mounted on the end of arm 27 which is secured to shaft y-to rotate therewith, and an arm 28 which is also secured to shaft 20 is adapted to effect rotation thereof. Arm 28 has a roller 29 rotatably supported at one end thereof which is adapted to engage a timing cam 30 and act as a cam follower by virtue of the spring 31 which connects the arm 28 to the frame of the machine and biases the roller 29 into engagement with the surface of cam 30. The roller 26 is likewise rotatably mounted on the end of an arm 32 which is secured to shaft 20 for rotation therewith. In operation, the timing cam 30 causes the rollers and 26 to move away from the rollers 12 and 13 and thereafter during a predetermined portion of a cycle of operation of the machine to urge these rollers toward rollers 12 and 13 to firmly engage a sheet of paper therebetween.

For accurate timing, the shaft 33 on and by which the cam is driven is connected with shaft 6 by means of the sprockets 34 and 35 and chain 36. In this Way, the operation of the rollers 25 and 26 is accurately timed with respect to the rotation of the take-off rollers 12 and 13.

The shaft 33 is driven from some suitable prime mover such as the motor 37 shown in Fig. 2 by means of pulleys 38, 39 and belt 40.

In operation, as shown in Fig. 2, the stack of papers will rest as illustrated upon the top of the cylinder 4. Vacuum supplied to the interior of the cylinder will cause a portion of lowermost sheet of paper to separate from the bottom of the stack, starting from a point adjacent the upper end of the slots, and being pulled downwardly in progressively overlapping relation to the cylinder, as the preceding sheet of paper is Withdrawn.

It will be observed that upon each rotation of the take-off rollers one and one sheet only will be removed from the base of the stack since only the lowermost paper is subjected to the vacuum action of the cylinder. Moreover, it will be noted that the vacuum take-off comprising the hollow cylinder is stationary and no movement need be imparted thereto, the movement of the paper being effected relative to the stationary member.

if desired, a member may be mounted to rock with the shaft 20-to strike the stack of papers; for example along the edge thereof adjacent the paper guides 10. Movement of this member may occur between the guides 10 and serves to overcome static friction between the stack and the paper being withdrawn therefrom.

In Fig. 3, a valving arrangement is provided such as a cylindrical valve 44, which is mounted in close fitting relation within the cylinder 4 and may be mounted on and rotated by shaft 6. This valve hasa cutaway portion forming the-cavity which extends longitudinally thereof throughout the zone of the cylinder embracing the slotted openings 7. Vacuum is supplied to the cavity 45 by means of passageway 46 which in turn communicates through a suitable rotatable coupling with pipe 47 con nected with the source of vacuum. The cavity 45 may extend in a peripheral manner throughout substantially 90. With an arrangement of this character, vacuum is supplied to the lowermost sheet of paper in the same manner as hereinabove described but the vacuum is cut off from the adjacent sheet of paper while the first sheet is being withdrawn and thereafter, as the valve 44 rotates,

it will again supply vacuum to the lowermost sheet.

What is claimed is:

l. A feeding mechanism for paper and the like comprising a hollow member having at least one peripherally extending aperture therein communicating between the exterior and interior of said member, means for supporting a stack of papers to rest operatively upon said member with the closest paper adjacent one end of said aperture and tangent to said curved surface, the surface of said hollow member being inclined away from the leading edge of said stack to peel off the leading edge of the closest paper in said stack, means for placing portions of said aperture under vacuum in controlled sequence, including means inside the hollow member to provide a vacuum applied first at the end of the aperture adjacent the stack only and then progressingly being applied to the other portions of the aperture, and means for moving the closest paper when overlapping the slotted portion of said cylinder separated in part from the rest of the stack and for removing said paper from the stack, including means for holding said paper against said surface whereby as the trailing edge of said paper exposes said aperture 21 second paper is sucked onto said surface in overlapping relation to said first paper, whereby said overlapping papers seal said aperture continuously.

2. A feeding mechanism for paper and the like comprising a hollow member, means for supporting a stack of papers to contact opcratively with said hollow member, said hollow member having an aperture therein, said aperture extending along the surface of said hollow member at the point where said stack contacts said hollow member, means for placing portions of said aperture under vacuum in controlled sequence including valve means inside said hollow member, and means for removing the papers inoverlapping relation so that they seal said hollow member at all times including means for moving the paper closest said hollow member when overlapping said aperture from said stack, and means for holding said paper against the surface of said hollow member throughout the apertured area:

3. A feeding mechanism for paper and the like comprising a hollow member having at least one aperture extending along the periphery thereof communicating between the exterior and interior of said member, means for supporting a stack of papers to rest upon said member adjacent one end of said peripheral extending aperture, means to progressively apply vacuum along said aperture including rotating valve means located within said member, and means for gripping the closest paper when overlapping the apertured portion of the member separated in part from the rest of the stack and for removing said paper from the stack.

4. A feeding mechanism for paper and the like comprising a hollow member having at least one peripherally extending aperture therein communicating between the exterior and interior of said member, means for supporting a stack of papers to rest operatively adjacent said member with the closest paper adjacent and tangent one end of said aperture, the surface of said hollow member being inclined away from the leading edge of said stack to peel off the leading edge of the closest paper in said stack, means for placing portions of said aperture under vacuum controlled sequence including means inside the hollow member to provide a vacuum applied first at the end of the aperture adjacent the stack only and then progressingly being applied to theother portions of the aperture, means for gripping the closest paper when overlapping the apertured portion of said cylinder separated in part from the rest of the stack, and means for removing said paper from the stack such that the line of travel of said paper is along said surface, said papers being removed in overlapping relation.

5. A feeding mechanism for paper and the like, comprising a hollow curved surface member having at least one aperture therein communicating between the exterior and interior of said cylinder, means for supporting a stack of papers to rest upon said member adjacent one end of said apertures, means inside said hollow member for placing portions of said apertures under vacuum in controlled sequence to gain progressive sucking of a paper without the aid of preceding sheet for valve action, and means for gripping the closest paper when overlapping the apertured portion of the cylinder separated in part from the rest of the stack and for removing said paper from the stack.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

